Europe fit for the Digital Age
Today, the European Commission proposed new rules and actions intended to boost the development of trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Europe. Their aim is to unify the understanding of AI and the approach to its regulation in all EU Member States.
The new Commission’s proposal is the combination of the first-ever legal framework proposal on AI – Regulation on Harmonised Rules on AI, the new Coordinated Plan with Member States on AI, and the New rules on Machinery.
The new rules will apply directly and uniformly in all EU Member States, and they follow a risk-based approach. Thus, the AI systems will be divided into four main groups, for which different measures will apply appropriately: 1) AI systems with unacceptable risk will be banned; 2) AI systems that pose a high-risk will be subjected to strict obligations before being put on the market; 3) AI systems with a limited risk will face transparency obligations; and 4) AI systems with minimal risk will be freely available to use.
The next steps are to be taken by the European Parliament and the Member States that have to adopt the proposed Regulation, so that it can become directly applicable across the EU. The Commission will also continue to actively cooperate with the Member States to ensure appropriate implementation of actions prevised in the new Coordinated Plan on AI.
For more information on the new proposed rules, see here and here.
The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that maintains the Open Library, a digital library index, and is dedicated to preserving knowledge. As many of the works in the Internet Archive are under copyright, the Archive uses a system of controlled digital lending based on digital rights management to prevent unauthorized downloading or copying of copyrighted books. In March 2020, due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet Archive established the National Emergency Library, eliminating the waiting lists used in the Open Library and expanding access to books for all readers. In June 2020, the Emergency National Library faced a lawsuit from four book publishers and was ultimately closed.
The 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (hereinafter SCCR) made substantial progress on the issues advocated by the A2K Coalition (Access to Knowledge Coalition), which IPI is a member of. This year’s session was the most productive on the issues of exceptions and limitations. James Love (Knowledge Ecology International), a long-time observer at WIPO, described the outcome and the impact of the public interest community as the strongest since the conclusion of the Marrakech Treaty, which brought global copyright exceptions for the benefit of the blind and visually impaired.
Today, March 17, 2023, a symposium on law in the information society is taking place in the golden lecture hall of the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič will present copyright aspects of artificial intelligence at the symposium.
The third day of the 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is intended for discussion on the topic of exceptions and limitations to copyright, especially in connection with the right to research.